Technology is the achievement of human purposes through the disciplined use of materials, energy, and natural phenomena. Education in and through technology involves
- appropriate resources,
- suitable tasks, and
- the interplay between the two.
The resources involved are the knowledge and skills acquired by the student. A task is an undertaking in which the student seeks to apply those resources of knowledge and skills.
1.1 Aims
The aims of the course are:
- to contribute to the student's preparation for life through encouraging the constructive and creative use of such knowledge and transferable skills as might be applicable to solving practical problems;
- to contribute to the student's development of qualities of self-reliance, selfconfidence, resourcefulness and initiative;
- to contribute to the student's preparation for life by stimulating the student's interest and confidence in working safely with equipment and materials;
- to develop in the student such skills of visualisation and of manipulation as are involved in designing and making artefacts;
- to develop in the student the abilities to make a critical evaluation of a piece of work and to take appropriate action;
- to develop the student's knowledge and understanding of communications conventions and of scientific and technological phenomena and terminology;
- to develop in the student an appreciation of how technology impacts on society and an understanding of how it might be used to the benefit or detriment of the social and physical environment;
- to develop in the student an appreciation that established technological solutions reflect the accumulation of the experience and wisdom of the ages.
1.2 Objectives:
Students who have completed a course in Technology should be able to:
- demonstrate a knowledge of technology through solving problems;
- show awareness of the possibilities represented by the development of materials, techniques and equipment;
- satisfy all safety requirements during the designing, planning and making of an artefact or system;
- use technical equipment in order to mark out, cut, shape, form, join and finish materials;
- represent, using recognised conventions, the visualisation of a completed piece of work;
- communicate in simple technical terms through the composition, reading and interpretation of basic working drawings;
- prepare a production plan;
- translate basic working drawings into practical reality by selecting and working materials, using tools and machines and applying relevant skills and knowledge;
- produce the work to a chosen design using, where appropriate, unprepared raw materials, part-prepared raw materials, and fully-prepared components or subassemblies;
- complete tasks to a standard of excellence;
- appraise critically the work for quality of design, function and finish and take any measures necessary;
- demonstrate an understanding of the properties of materials;
- demonstrate an understanding of the operating principles of simple components and mechanisms, and how they might be selected, applied, and tested for particular tasks;
- take proper care of equipment and materials;
- recognise the limitations of technology;
- discuss the environmental issues arising from the use of technology;
- demonstrate an understanding of the evolution of technology as a response to the needs of society